At sunrise Tuesday, July 21, 2015 I was eyewitness to a brutish striper blitz. Having set my alarm for 4:30am, I shut it off for an hour, almost not getting up at all. Soon after arriving stripers rushed the entrance of the Cape Cod Bay side of the canal where I was fishing the riprap. Fishermen were howling, reeling furiously for those few moments. I heard them all the way across at pole 20, talking about the importance of sharp hooks, pointing out fish, and spreading gossip. Many caught keepers. Casts turned frantic as I was unable to reach the boils. My lack of saltwater experience and underpowered freshwater gear limited my casting distance and my chances. An old timer stopped his bike on the trail directly behind me and made one cast over my head that bounced off the moon and landed squarely in the action hundreds of feet away. He reeled in his untaken plug quickly and biked away, already having a keeper. There is a one keeper limit nowadays because striper mortality is high. I was humbled, felt humiliated, and wanted to quit fishing. Not because of that gentleman. I already felt that way. He just validated it. So I walked dejectedly toward the jettie. I think a bike or two rode past, with a bag full of striper no doubt. The first guy I walked by was bashing a big striper on the head. I stopped to watch, quietly standing a few feet away. I noticed a tattoo on his arm. 'Jim' it read. After a few moments I asked him some questions. He was happy to answer my questions, which changed my attitude altogether. It is in this spirit that I created Dan's Tackle Box.
Jim said he made thousands fishing for stripers and that current prices were $5.70/pound. One of his fellow fishermen made more he said. He recommended gear. I went to Cape Cod Charlie's and Red Top Sporting Goods to get a Daiwa SP Minnow, Sebile knockoff, pencil popper, 30 pound braid, and 50 pound fluorcarbon leader. I kept my rod and reel the same because I can work with it. By the next day I had the goods but the canal clammed up the rest of my vacation. When the stripers aren't popping the sharpies sit on their bikes, rocket launchers loaded, waiting for the phone to ring with news of feeding frenzies, and many leave after sunrise to go make the doughnuts. During the day chunkers and liveliners stand practically elbow to elbow on the jettie which sent me under the Sagamore.
Jim told me about some popular spots including the rip at pole 20. Wednesday morning I went there. At adjacent Scusset Beach I met a 73 year old gentleman who drew a map in the sand of the nearby Old Harbor Creek, saying it was a decent striper spot in the fall when fish bulk up for their run to Chesapeake Bay.
Thursday I met some guys from Rhode Island who got skunked and were disappointed about missing the stir on Tuesday. We laughed at how often it's said, 'fishing was great the other day,' when you weren't there. They were using a Daiwa SP Minnow and a Bomber Long A.
Friday I learned how to work a pencil popper by watching a fishermen use one at the railroad bridge towards Buzzards Bay. He told me how he drilled a hole in the hollow plastic body of a Cotton Cordell pencil popper, dropped in some steel shot, and superglued the lure shut. This adds rattle and castability. Pencil poppers cast very far.
Don't cross anyone's line either. Watch where and when your neighbor is casting to avoid this. I heard one guy shout he was going to cut out another man's heart because he crossed his line. No joke.
I saw a massive seal in the canal. The fishermen were not happy about this. One of them wanted to shoot it. Seals eat a lot of fish. I was told stories of sharks and whales entering the canal.
When you go fishing you are among a million friends, just don't cross their lines or they will cut your heart out. Watch, listen, and learn.
